Trade Partners

Is the Internet ToolKit really worth IT?

YES!

A resource on why it is well worth using the Internet ToolKit (ITK)

Introduction:

Mark Systems’ Internet ToolKit (ITK) allows trade partners a secure, online portal to access essential information pertaining to building houses and doing business with their homebuilder. The purpose of the ITK is to give each homebuilding trade partner real time, instantaneous access to job starts, floor plan documents, work orders, purchase orders, warranty service orders, construction calendars, quality assurance check lists, payment history, and payment status, as well as many other features. This fundamental information is provided via the ITK in order to make building houses for the homebuilder as seamless and efficient as possible for both the homebuilder and the homebuilder’s trade partners.

Extra effort required by not using the ITK

All this information goes to the ITK seamlessly without any extra effort on the homebuilder’s part. If a trade partner does not want to use the ITK, it requires additional resources from the home builder to print and mail work orders, job starts, lien waivers, floor plans, schedules, service orders, quality assurance checklists, etc. Even if the builder were to email this information instead of printing and mailing, it still requires someone working for the builder to spend time emailing this information out to you. However, work orders, purchase orders, schedules, lien waivers, and everything else that appears on the ITK, appears there based on instinctual processes the homebuilder is already performing. That extra effort that is required to print and mail, or save and email this pertinent information could be concentrated in a more productive manner that allows your homebuilder to build more homes, and providing you with more work. Working for a high tech builder with lower operating costs because of their technology allows them to outsell their competition and provide you with more jobs.

Non-essential monthly subscription costs

The ITK is an essential tool to help you run your business and build homes more efficiently. Below are a few examples of subscription services that you may be subscribed to that are around the same price or more per month.

Text messaging on phone (~$15)

Data plan on phone (~$50)

HBO ($10)

Starz ($10)

Netflix – ($15.98)

X-Box Live Family Pack ($8.33)

Hulu Plus ($7.99)

Gym Membership (~$35)

Self Storage (~$40)

Benefits of the Online ITK ToolKit:

Online Payment History Forever!

The ITK stores every work order and purchase order you were ever issued and allows you to reprint these documents at any time. WO’s and PO’s always carry a “payment status” indicating whether they’re open, approved for payment, invoiced, or paid with dates for each status. This part of the system can also be filtered by open but not approved, approved but not paid, and paid only. The first two statuses allow you to project your incoming cash flow based on short term (approved but not paid) and long term cash flow (open but not approved).

Faster Payment!

Since we’re on the topic of getting paid, you’ll actually be getting paid faster with the Internet ToolKit because you will no longer have to send out an invoice. Your work order will be converted seamlessly in to an invoice as soon as the work is completed. Using the WO/PO Status History program you will always be able to see the status of every payment and when you will be getting paid.

Calendar

View your upcoming schedules and allocate your resources and work crews based on a real-time, accurate schedule of houses under construction or about to start. You will be able to see every house and task your builder has scheduled for you. When things change, your calendar updates immediately in real-time.

Instant Gratification

No more waiting, no more guessing. When a change order is made in sales, that information will be available to you the moment it is accepted. When an option is changed that affects your work orders, it appears on your work order or purchase order. You can check your schedule and manage your cash flow 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year from your computer or your phone. What is it worth to have up to the minute information instead of last week’s mail? The information on the Internet ToolKit is always the most current information possible.

Electronic Floor Plans

Every floor plan is available on the Internet ToolKit that you can view, save, print, and use to bid out new projects. No more hunting for an email, or searching through drawers for your builders floor plan documents. Every document required to build a house is available on the ITK at your fingertips.

Impact on the Environment

Small changes have a big impact. Using the Internet ToolKit to go paperless equates to a far better impact on the environment. A number of benefits are achieved by going paperless for both the homebuilder and trade partner:

Conducts business in a mobile environment resulting in faster responses to customers.

Increases efficiency of your staff by removing the time spent searching for and sending documents.

Presents a professional image to your customers with mobile computing solutions.

Creates faster business work flow by eliminating the time wasted on getting paper signatures on contracts and forms that need to be hand delivered.

Secure backup of all documents.

Real time updates and delivery of documents.

The Bottom Line

How much would it cost you if you had to drive to the builder’s office to pick up plans, work orders, and schedules in terms of time, gas, and coffee? With that in mind, is it really worth $8.95 a month to access your calendar, work orders, job starts, floor plans, payment status, payment history, variance purchase orders, and other essential building information? Is it worth that much to know that this information is available at your fingertips on your smart phone, tablet, desktop or anywhere else you have an internet connection? Is it worth it to know that the information is always accurate and exactly what you need to build every house correctly? Yes.

IHMS Internet Tool Kit Website

To access the IHMS ITK please review the following:

Click Here for a information that will help you understand the IHMS ITK.Click Here to access the IHMS ITK via the internet.